How long does a student have to stay in each belt

[ramymensa]

In our Shotokan club you start with a white belt on your waist. You must earn it and become a 9th Kyu from a 10th Kyu which is the complete beginner. The grading take place after 4 or 6 months of training. Afterwards you can take the exam twice a year. In theory you are allowed to test every 4 months, but we test in december and in may.

 

After the blue belt (5 Kyu) it gets tougher

 

koreantiger81 said they grade for white belt after a month. Great I had to wait for 4 months. In our style nobody cares if you get bored

[hobbitbob]

(If it took over 4 months, this would discourage students. Their excitement for the martial arts could prematurally die.)

In my first Dojo, belt colours were white (9-4th kyu), brown (3-1 kyu) and Black. I wore a white belt from February of 1981 until June of 1984. I guess I just have a long attention span.

[ZeRo]

wow 3 years!! it must be mighty dirty. you would even need a new belt it would have turned brown with dirt!

[LeaF]

generally takes 8-12 months, altough I have been at certain belts for 2+ years, because there were age restrictions placed on me, but I endured

[karatekid1975]

In my dojang, it's anywhere from 4 to 6 months. There is 2 "grades" (gups) for each belt. One grade or gup is anywhere from 2 to 3 months. We also have "tip" testing (not a "formal" test). We get little stripes on the opposite side of the big stripe (like I am green with blue stripe). We get tips for forms, basics, step sparring, ect, depending on rank.

 

I hope this makes sense. I'm tired and I ramble when I'm tired LOL.

[KU]

I don't think the time between kyu grades is so important it is more dependant on individual ability. Differnt MA's have a different number of kyu grades for example we have 6, so the time between each grade will be longer than a style with 10. I thing the more important time frame is how long between starting the MA and sitting for a shodan. For most karate styles this should be at least 5 years (depending on how offten you train). So for my style the kyu grade are spread evenly over about 4 years leaving 1 year between ikkyu and shodan.

[karatekid1975]

In TSD, we had 9 gups/kyus. So it wasn't as long between belts. We had a belt color for each rank (except for red had two gups). Then there was midnight blue (sho dan bo) after 1st gup red belt. You had to be a midnight blue belt for six months before you even think about black belt. You had to pass a endurance test before BB. If you didn't, you didn't make the "formal" test, which means you have to wait another six months (same if you didn't pass your BB test). So it took anywhere from 4 to 6 years for BB. I thought that was awsome because that means when you get your BB you REALLY earned it. Edited October 5, 2002 by karatekid1975

[karatekid1975]

I should add the time between ranks: white, orange (adults skipped yellow), green, blue was 3 months: brown, purple, red, red with stripe was 4 months, and sho dan bo was 6 months.

[jmd161]

How ever long it takes for the person to grasp the understanding that level carries.I come from very traditional teachers.I think that a person should earn each level not have it given to them just because they've been on that level over a yr.In the longrun you hurt the student and maybe the school.My sifu tells me i need to just teach the dedicated students behind closed doors.That's true ,but i want ppl to see real kung fu not the stuff going around using the name kung fu.

 

jmd

[kenpo4life]

Maybe it is just because I am from the old school, but I think that some schools promote WAY too fast!! I think that you promote a person when they are ready. At my fathers school, it wold take about 5 years, and that is with 3-4 times a week. I think that martial arts should be one of the most difficult things you ever do. I think that these "mcdojos" are contributing to the negative light that shines on martial arts these days.